Four men, including three former Keltbray site managers, have been found guilty in a demolition bribery scheme involving over £600,000 in illicit payments.
Arben Hysa, owner of Tony Demolition Workers Ltd, was convicted of bribing three Keltbray managers from Keltbray, Michael McCarthy, Simon Lacey and John Burke, between 2012 and 2018.
Hysa’s company secured specialist labour contracts worth £15m from Keltbray, facilitated by these bribes.
McCarthy, Lacey and Burke were found guilty of accepting the payments, which represented a ‘breach of trust’ to Keltbray, at Southwark Crown Court on 12 February.
Additionally, solicitor Cathrine Williams was acquitted of money laundering charges related to the case.
This prosecution followed a Home Office investigation into the contractual dealings between Keltbray and Tony Demolition Workers Ltd.
Andrew Cant of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Corruption in the construction industry distorts competition between companies and makes the UK a less attractive marketplace for domestic and foreign investors.
“McCarthy, Lacey, and Burke ignored the rules in respect of their obligation to act in the interests of their employer Keltbray when dealing with external contractors by accepting significant sums of money from Arben Hysa. Williams, a solicitor, allowed her bank account to be used by Burke to receive the bribes.”
The CPS has initiated confiscation proceedings to recover the illicit gains from the defendants.
In March 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority fined 10 construction firms nearly £60m for bid-rigging on demolition and asbestos removal contracts, affecting projects worth over £150m.
